History is not about the past; it is about arguments we have about the past. Ira Berlin, The Long Emancipation I’ve been visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico for about 30 years. From the first I was enchanted by the ambiance, the weather (in all seasons), the food, the architecture, the art, the museums,…
Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. 1942. I’m not sure why this phrase “Everything that rises…
In December 2014, in the midst of demonstrations and widespread discussion about race and racism in the aftermath of a grand jury’s decision against indicting a white police officer for shooting an unarmed black teen, a group of bloggers (including this one) and colleagues posted their Joint Statement urging museums to become involved and…
How do you get started writing professionally? How do you know what to write about? These were among the questions that Will Crow, writer/museum educator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I discussed recently at a program on writing as part of professional work. During the evening, sponsored by the New York City…
Guest Post by Sarah Pharon, Senior Director, Methodology and Practice, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience I travel frequently for my work. I spend more time than I would like at airports eating an embarrassing amount of “bad food” from food courts. While waiting for my order from one of the airport fast food chains…
Museum Questions Blogger Rebecca Herz and I agreed awhile back to have an open and continuing blog conversation about education and learning in museums. Rebecca has upheld her end of the agreement much better than I. Over the past several months she has posted an interesting question almost every week–on the value of field trips, the…
Carol Bossert’s weekly Museum Life program on VoiceAmerica satellite radio brings all kinds of current museum issues to the fore. I was happy to be part of a discussion she hosted on Friday, January 23, 2015 called “Following up on Ferguson.” I joined Melanie Adams, the Managing Director for Community Education and Events for the…
I’m pleased to begin the New Year with a guest post from Deborah Schwartz, President of the Brooklyn Historical Society. As many readers know, a number off other bloggers and I have been posting about the role of museums in responding to Ferguson (using that one word to stand for the series of events that has…
I’m so happy to feature the following guest post from Melanie Adams, Managing Director of Community Education and Events at the Missouri History Museum and President of the Association of Midwest Museums. The Missouri History Museum has been extremely responsive to all of the issues surrounding the events in August in nearby Ferguson, MO. For…
The recent series of events, from Ferguson to Cleveland and New York, have created a watershed moment. Things must change. New laws and policies will help, but any movement toward greater cultural and racial understanding and communication must be supported by our country’s cultural and educational infrastructure. Museums are a part of this educational…